Student Insights from the Field: Managing a Volunteer Contact Tracing Program in Summer 2020
By Anna Kamen (MBA/ MPP student at MIT Sloan and Harvard Kennedy School) and Stephen Henriques (MBA student at Yale’s School of Management)
February 2021
As Summer Policy Fellows for the Office of the Governor of Connecticut, we worked with the State Department of Public Health (DPH) to build a virtual, statewide contact tracing program of 125 volunteers in less than three weeks. Building an entirely volunteer program in such a short timeframe and with so much at stake posed significant challenges. Our goal is to contribute to the rapidly-evolving body of knowledge regarding the development and implementation of a COVID-19 contact tracing program. This report shares the challenges we faced, our respective responses, and best practices learned from recruiting, training, and managing a volunteer contact tracing workforce for the state of Connecticut.
Student Insights from the Field Managing a Volunteer Contact Tracing Program in Summer 2020